What did you do today non-detailing related?

DFB said:
Noticed this high-quality workmanship while out for my walk this afternoon................................. :rolleyes:



I've always refrained from doing that as I know the distain the general public has for leaf blowers, and I really don't feel like giving people a reason to complain. I've had multiple people over the years accuse me of blowing leaves and grass onto the road or into neighbouring properties. But if that person had bothered to actually observe rather just immediately going into attack mode because they see/hear a leaf blower, they would notice that I'm either not finished yet or that it was the wind and not my leaf blower to blame. Like, of course there is some grass in the gutter, you stopped to harass me before I'd finished what I was doing, sometimes before I've started. I'm normally pretty quiet/reserved person, but I get very worked up when people stop me to complain about my workmanship on SOMEONE ELSES property.
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Slip over and get a payout! That cowboy job gives the good guy's/girls a bad name bloody shameful.
 
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DFB said:
Well, I kinda bought a lawn mower shop here.......................



This all came from the lawn mower shop I have spoken about here many times. This shop was my go-to for many years, be that for the purchase of lawn mowers and spare parts, but also for equipment repair. Once it changed hands, I was burnt twice on two repairs with the new owner, which turned into a messy situation and dispute with Victa head office. I have since bought parts and mowers elsewhere, and then fixed stuff myself.

When the business was being sold, the new owners were instructed by an accountant to not include/accept parts more than a year old within the sale. So, boxes and boxes of old parts were taken with the previous owners and have sat in his shed ever since.

Now, a lot of this stuff is going to be completely useless to me. Some of it is suuuuper old, some of it is for larger ride-on engines, some of it I don't even know what it's for. There is everything from replacement valves, thousands of different gaskets, pistons, piston rings, complete carburettors, carburettor kits, governor springs and links, air filters, even two fuel tanks, one of which would have come in handy on a recent project.

















The fun part from here will be going through and sorting out what I want to keep, what is worth selling, what is simply better off going in the bin (old foam filters for example). Some of the vintage Briggs & Stratton packaging is worth having just to look at. 😁

This was the same mower shop that I remember going to with my dad to buy parts for the family's ailing Morrison, which we eventually rebuilt together and subsequently taught me how engines work. Every time I would go into that shop, young or old, I'd be gazing beyond the counter and into the spare parts room thinking, geez, I'd love to have a look in there. Now I have a significant collection of parts that would have sat on those shelves the whole time. Some of them decades old.
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I left a 4 star Google review about 6 years back the same shop picked up our ride on on Wednesday (Dad was over fixing it and his sore)

I thought i might see and have a look at the current circumstances

ONLY TO SEE that the shop in question had left our street name and house location. WTF 🤬 How can a business take your personal information and use that against you.

By the way it's a "Family run Business"

What i said at the time was correct and my own opinion

RANT OVER 🤬 🤬 🤬 🤬 🤬 🤬 🤬 🤬
 
DFB said:
Noticed this high-quality workmanship while out for my walk this afternoon................................. :rolleyes:



I've always refrained from doing that as I know the distain the general public has for leaf blowers, and I really don't feel like giving people a reason to complain. I've had multiple people over the years accuse me of blowing leaves and grass onto the road or into neighbouring properties. But if that person had bothered to actually observe rather just immediately going into attack mode because they see/hear a leaf blower, they would notice that I'm either not finished yet or that it was the wind and not my leaf blower to blame. Like, of course there is some grass in the gutter, you stopped to harass me before I'd finished what I was doing, sometimes before I've started. I'm normally pretty quiet/reserved person, but I get very worked up when people stop me to complain about my workmanship on SOMEONE ELSES property.
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I have been told it is a crime to leave cut grass in the road in our state. I know first hand the possible risk. We were driving to another state and there was a guy moving the side of the road and all the grass was dumped into the road. It also dumped crap on the side of the road like a tie down (a strap with end clips). Well, I ran over it. It made a noise for a few seconds while strap banged around in the wheel well and all that was left was one of the end clips embed in the tire. It was not leaking much but kept an eye on it and was able to drive to my destination. I pulled it out and tire went flat quickly. I plugged it since most tire places will not patch (let alone plug) that close to the sidewall for liability reasons.
 
Big Dave said:
Our financial year runs July 1 to June 30 of the next year, taxes are due by 31 October. I don't know why they do it that way. I think businesses may have to do some tax reporting quarterly, but I'm not sure.
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Must have something to do with coinciding with the middle of winter. Or maybe you are just 180 degrees from us...because you're 180 degrees from us.

:p you know I love to tease you Aussies.
 
Big Dave said:
Our financial year runs July 1 to June 30 of the next year, taxes are due by 31 October. I don't know why they do it that way. I think businesses may have to do some tax reporting quarterly, but I'm not sure.
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maybe it's so our accountants can go there in the off-season to do your taxes.
 
Big Dave said:
Our financial year runs July 1 to June 30 of the next year, taxes are due by 31 October. I don't know why they do it that way. I think businesses may have to do some tax reporting quarterly, but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

Correct, quarterly business activity statements (BAS), massive pain in the rear.
 
Jumped into the parts abyss this morning and WOW, what an interesting exercise!

My goal for today was to look through each box and sort everything into defined collections. For the most part, the seller had already grouped many similar parts together, however not a methodically as I'd like. I also wanted to properly see what I had, which would then allow me to determine what I want to keep, what I'd like to sell, and what would ultimately go into the bin.



The majority of boxed parts were put into large cardboard boxes, which were labeled with a category and a list of contents. In some cases, I also wrote down part numbers. This will help when I work through each box for keep/sell process. Category groups include internal engine parts, fuel system & carb parts, electrical and dipsticks, air filters, governor springs/linkages, crankcase and engine gasket kits, starters and recoil parts, fuel tanks and wheels.









For the smaller stuff, I went and got a collection of containers from Bunnings. These include valve cover gaskets, intake/exhaust/breather gaskets, head gaskets, assorted unknow gaskets, oil seals, bearings, screws and fasteners, assorted hardware.





As mentioned yesterday, there is a lot of random parts here that will never get used by me, many are not even labeled. There are hundreds of head gaskets, most being for flat head engines and will be useful to someone. I do wonder about the paper sump gaskets, some are 40+ years old, so I'm wondering if they would even be usable? The same applies to the crankshaft oil seals, apart from most not being labeled, I do question if the rubber would be serviceable, chime in please if you can help on that front.

Some stuff went into the bin, mostly deteriorated items, but also random parts that would have no use to me or be worth selling.

The funny thing is, I can easily identify many of these parts and where they go on the engine before even reading the part description, which helped massively with my sorting process. I also spotted a variety of parts that I've had to buy in the past, such as gaskets, carb kits, oil seals, fuel tanks, even a complete carburettor. These were diverted into my usual parts store.

From here, I have the notion of creating a spreadsheet to help find out what will fit my engines (and future engines), then help assign part numbers to the stuff I want to sell.
 
Mowed the yard. The recent rain did not soften the ground that much.
 
A few notable treasures I came across yesterday –

- An oil pan, which is from a 1220-series OHV horizontal shaft engine.



- A flywheel for a vertical 3.5 – 5hp engine.



- Quantum fuel tanks, the red one would have been for an IC engine.



- Lower crank seals for a Victa, being 20mm means they are for a later full-crank 125 and 160cc engines. I can’t find that particular part number online, so I think the wrong number has been put on it.



- Five vintage fuel caps, which would have been fitted to a variety of engines from the 60’s to 80’s, think the 3.5hp engines with the metal fuel tank. Being a spare part, these are bare silver in colour. (Briggs & Stratton paint engines after assembly. That’s why spare parts come in undercoat, unpainted or natural plastic).



- Rocker cover and valve-plate gaskets for the Intek engine I picked up a few weeks ago. I ended up buying these parts, so these come three weeks too late. These two were identified by look alone, then verified by the parts numbers.



- A complete carburettor to fit said Intek above. I’m told these are hard to come by now as they were unique to the Intek, so Quantum equivalents don’t fit. What are the odds.



- I immediately knew what these are for, only because of watching the legendary Taryl Dactal. This little kit consists of a small roll pin and a Teflon washer, which was used to combat warping on the metal fuel tank used on 3.5hp vertical shaft engines. The pin and washer prevent fuel leaking into a specific chamber on the tank that would cause a running issue. Briggs implemented these parts as a repair kit. These would be rarely used today, only for those restoring engines.



- A bag full of replacement points and condensers to suit 2 – 8 hp engines. Again, these would only be of interest to those restoring older engines.



- Two Magnetron kits. These were used to convert an older points and condenser ignition coil to electronic ignition, effectively eliminating the need for points maintenance. Briggs started using Magnetron electronic ignition at some stage in the early to mid- 1980’s, which was a fully integrated system. However, they implemented this retrofit kit for dealers to adapt older coils to the more reliable electronic ignition. Instead of replacing the coil, the module clips over the existing one and new kill wire routed. The points and condenser are disconnected and left in place. No more messing with points.

Again, another Taryl discovery for me.





Now begins the process of collating part numbers.
 
whipper snipped today on our property and then went next door to mow the neighbours lawn, his was high it seems to grow quicker than ours so a number 3 and 4 it was done.

I got a " Thank you" from them a lemon lime bitter drink would of helped.....

I've gone out of my way to help them over the last 10 years but I just try to keep everyone happy.

Letting our lawn grow out a bit more before a cut I'm over shaving it and don't want it to dry out.

Might have our lawn mower sooooon will see i don't really like the boss man from Mower Power Devonport his South African tight ass attitude rubs me the wrong way 😑
 
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DFB said:
Jumped into the parts abyss this morning and WOW, what an interesting exercise!

My goal for today was to look through each box and sort everything into defined collections. For the most part, the seller had already grouped many similar parts together, however not a methodically as I'd like. I also wanted to properly see what I had, which would then allow me to determine what I want to keep, what I'd like to sell, and what would ultimately go into the bin.



The majority of boxed parts were put into large cardboard boxes, which were labeled with a category and a list of contents. In some cases, I also wrote down part numbers. This will help when I work through each box for keep/sell process. Category groups include internal engine parts, fuel system & carb parts, electrical and dipsticks, air filters, governor springs/linkages, crankcase and engine gasket kits, starters and recoil parts, fuel tanks and wheels.









For the smaller stuff, I went and got a collection of containers from Bunnings. These include valve cover gaskets, intake/exhaust/breather gaskets, head gaskets, assorted unknow gaskets, oil seals, bearings, screws and fasteners, assorted hardware.





As mentioned yesterday, there is a lot of random parts here that will never get used by me, many are not even labeled. There are hundreds of head gaskets, most being for flat head engines and will be useful to someone. I do wonder about the paper sump gaskets, some are 40+ years old, so I'm wondering if they would even be usable? The same applies to the crankshaft oil seals, apart from most not being labeled, I do question if the rubber would be serviceable, chime in please if you can help on that front.

Some stuff went into the bin, mostly deteriorated items, but also random parts that would have no use to me or be worth selling.

The funny thing is, I can easily identify many of these parts and where they go on the engine before even reading the part description, which helped massively with my sorting process. I also spotted a variety of parts that I've had to buy in the past, such as gaskets, carb kits, oil seals, fuel tanks, even a complete carburettor. These were diverted into my usual parts store.

From here, I have the notion of creating a spreadsheet to help find out what will fit my engines (and future engines), then help assign part numbers to the stuff I want to sell.
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A box of "dipsticks" have you been up my way recently🫢
 
Tasmania said:
whipper snipped today on our property and then went next door to mow the neighbours lawn, his was high it seems to grow quicker than ours so a number 3 and 4 it was done.

I got a " Thank you" from them a lemon lime bitter drink would of helped.....

I've gone out of my way to help them over the last 10 years but I just try to keep everyone happy.

Letting our lawn grow out a bit more before a cut I'm over shaving it and don't want it to dry out.

Might have our lawn mower sooooon will see i don't really like the boss man from Mower Power Devonport his South African tight ass attitude rubs me the wrong way 😑
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New mower or a repair?
 
DFB said:
New mower or a repair?
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Well it's hard to tell one mechanic said yeah you can re build the Hydraulics in the back under the seat, the boss said nah you need a new ride on etc, etc, The old man is confused and just doesn't really know who to trust.

Dad's more than capable of fixing it himself but we don't have the tools or space and his hand is playing up can't grip stuff,

Mum/Dad will NEVER buy another Husqvarna it's been a lemon since day one.

Looking at Cox or John Deere but they have a budget of 5-6k maybe
and my Dad has sexy fingers so they need the warranty.
 
Tasmania said:
Well it's hard to tell one mechanic said yeah you can re build the Hydraulics in the back under the seat, the boss said nah you need a new ride on etc, etc, The old man is confused and just doesn't really know who to trust.

Dad's more than capable of fixing it himself but we don't have the tools or space and his hand is playing up can't grip stuff,
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Those hydraulic motors can be very finicky to pull down and service, messy too.

What's happening here is the owner wants to free up his mechanic by selling you a new machine, which he makes more money out of than the many hours that will be put into repairing your existing machine. Can you imagine a car dealer playing the same card, as in telling you that you need to buy a brand new car because the transmission needs to be serviced, it wouldn't go down well would it.

Tasmania said:
Mum/Dad will NEVER buy another Husqvarna it's been a lemon since day one.

Looking at Cox or John Deere but they have a budget of 5-6k maybe
and my Dad has sexy fingers so they need the warranty.
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Tractor or Zero-turn?
 
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